Synthetic paint thinners PT8 vs. white spirit

One thing to note re Paragon paints is that the enamel has a very short shelf life, If I remember correctly it is only a year. I have tried using older part tins and used PT8 to thin these thicker "older" paints..The results were a substandard finish. Just like Nigel's experience in similar circumstances but using White Spirit as a thinner. Dave Wooten's experience, over a long period, show no adverse effects of using White Spirit as a thinners. Andrew.

Yes Mike completely agree - here is an example of cheap skating on my part

Friday - before clear coating. All masked and sprayed over tissue - no decals

Monday - after clearcoat went wrong the strip down begins

All a result of using the wrong hardener in the two pack clear coat - by choice, trying to save hardener I used the previous batches hardener with another brand of top coat.

A lot of work to bring it back to this just for trying to be clever

Just one example of a few disasters over the years

As said, "one pays ones money" etc - it all comes down to how much you value the work previously put in I guess.

Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 31/10/2021 14:02:45

I agree that old Paragon paint ( been opened a year or more) does not brush out as well as a new tin, I have used tins that were part used and about three years old. But I found if I used their paint additive,I think its called PPP which I suspect might be Linseed oil based (certainly smells like it), and a small amount of white spirit to thin it the paint brushes out as well as a new tin. Again its been on the machine for a few years and not fallen off yet.

The paint additive might have come from Craftmaster paint, it's tipping it down so I'm not going down the workshop to check!

With the additive I have rollered a lathe base with very pleasing results, which is much less messy than spraying in a confined space. I bought some cheap paint filter cones from ebay to remove any bits from the old paint which had skinned over. Unbelievably I had to use these on a new tin of very expensive model paint which was full of small dust like bits, not pleased.

Dave

Once upon a time there was VALSPAR, Good wet edge time, leveled beautifully, reasonable drying time, and a fair price. Painted a vehicle, that many thought was brand new, an Austin Champ, and nobody guessed it was brush painted. The good old days ! Noel

My father always maintained that a brush painted job could be superior to a sprayed finish. Spraying was probably developed to produce an acceptable finish very quickly. The time saved by spraying large areas and the possibility of using quick drying paint was likely irresistible to the car industry and other similar activities. Although spraying can dumb down the skill of finish application it would be a mistake to dismiss it as an unskilled process. Production painting where the materials and process are rigidly defined and the operator becomes part of the process does simplify the human role but a skilled sprayer will understand the available materials and all the variables of the application process. When I was at school a lad refurbished a Norton petrol tank and brush painted it, the finished job was absolutely superb and totally eclipsed any factory finished job.

Mike

I've been using Lidl (Powerfix) thinner over the past few years. It used to be labelled "Universal Cellulose Thinner" but lately the labelling has changed to "Universal Thinner", though it smells and behaves the same.

It mixes with the synthetics I've used just fine. I've tried white spirit but found the finish takes much longer to cure and doesn't go as hard as with either the manufacturer's recommended thinner or with the Lidl stuff. It's also good for spraying, as it evaporates much quicker and allows a more rapid build up of coats.

+1 for the Lidl thinners, it is so relatively cheap that it can be used in quantity to make sure equipment is really clean.

Back in the 1960s I was involved in installing Hi-Fi equipment on a Royal Train being built in Sheffield for the King of Thialand. As you can imagine everything had to be the best. All the carriages were hand painted. They looked nice when they put the first coat of paint on but two days later they were rubbing it all down and putting another coat on. In the end I think it had four coats and the end result was fantastic. Creating a blemish free surface over such a large are says a lot for the abilities of the guys who created it. Some things stick in your mind for ever and the paint finish on those carriages is on of them.

Peter